Pls read the write- up by Sjt Ankur Bora (originally from Nagaon & currently
based at Texas,USA) has been continuously & sincerly put his effort to promote
Assamese Culture & its people globally to the best possible extent. Here he
wrote about a vastness of Sky & Earth's stand there & our own crisis of
identity while promoting a play NIRVANA by Sjt Himendra Barthakur based on
'Avaita' a complicated concept of pure Physics that we are nothing but all
subatomic particles & how we are related to universe which reminds me the core
essence of NAAMGHOXA & KIRTANPUTHI where we are slave of the slave to the
vastness of universe as narrated by Srimanta Xankaradeva & Sri Madhavadeva 550+
yrs back
Regards
Satyen Mahanta
NIRVANA
and
BINDU
An article by
Ankur Bora
Texas, USA
The post 9/11 world started five years after what Professor Samuel Huntington
of Harvard University analyzed in his 1996 book “The Clash of Civilizations and
the Remaking of World Order”. Huntington based his clash-theory on the
methodology of a singular categorization of human beings along his so-called
civilizational lines which closely follow religious divisions.
In his 2006 book "Identity and Violence: The illusion of destiny", Nobel
Laureate Dr. Amartya Sen critiqued the “single identity” of Huntington and
suggested an alternative that people did not need to cling to just one
identity. According to the new “Identity” methodology of Dr. Sen, “many
identities” based on “multiple affiliations” will be a sure remedy of 9/11.To
understand this methodology, let us look at Shehzad Tanweer, one of the 7/7
bombers. He was a son, a brother, a Yorkshire man, an Englishman, a university
graduate, a shop worker and a Muslim. It was not necessary for him, if we
follow the argument of Dr. Sen, to identify himself so strongly with just one
portion of his identity – Islam.
All these award-winning scholars know that, no matter what the methodology,
“identity” is the root cause of the economicclass-system and hereditary
racialism that prompted theWestern World to fight two world wars in the last
century.Seeing the destruction in World War I (1914-1918), caused by the
competition between nations originally motivated by the“Wealth of Nations”, the
European intellectuals pinned all their hope in the Bolshevik revolution of
1918, which was shattered when Stalin turned the Soviet Union into a
totalitarian dictatorship by 1934. Hitler’s rise around the same time was
naively tolerated as a recompense of the so called Versailles Injustice, but
the atrocities and mass murders in Hitler’soccupied territories during the
Second World War (1939-1945), based on racial supremacy, pushed the
intellectuals of the Western World into a vacuum of spiritual emptiness. They
lost all hope for mankind. This was reflected in the development of the “Absurd
Theater” in the post WWII Europe, where the omnipresent conclusion was “Man was
inhabiting a universe with which he was out of step …. Man’s place in the
universe was without any purpose whatsoever.”
In this widespread debacle of “single identity” vs. “many identities”, I was
stopped in my tracks when I found the wisdom of “No Identity” based on India’s
ancient philosophy of “Advaita”, presented in the drama NIRVANA by Mr.Himendra
Thakur. “Advaita” being a difficult concept,Himendra Thakur uses particle
physics to postulate that we are all electrons and protons, and leptons,
masons, baryons, all kinds of subatomic particles. “All the particles with
which I am made will become a pinhead if you put them together!”
This is not from any religious spirituality. This is not from any post-WWII
skepticism. This is from physics.
NIRVANA was copyrighted in 1990. It questions “reality” as perceived through
the conformist ideas of Mass, Space and Time. The science fiction imageries in
NIRVANA like human beings traveling through telephone wire were used later in
the 1999 movie “Matrix”. The Global Positioning System beingunknown in 1990,
the writer uses global coordinates to identify locations, where 69 miles on the
surface of the Earth make an angle of one degree at the center! Quickly follows
the information that six trillion miles make one light year, and the Andromeda
galaxy is two million light years away. Looking back with mind’s eye from
Andromeda, one will see a similar picture of our Milky Way Galaxy where the Sun
is an insignificant star. What about the Earth? “People will laugh at you,
Mother, if you ask about Earth over there”, Roopa assures her mother in the
drama. “Earth is not even a dust particle when you see it from there.”
The drama NIRVANA was translated into Assamese in 1995and was published with
the title BINDU. Ignoring the milieu of the so called intellectuals, the
dramatist followed his heart and dedicated BINDU to his two school teachers,
the late Ludai Ram Koibarta and the late Gopinath Medhi.
Ludai Ram Kaiborto came from a poor fishing family. To support his family and
to make ends meet, Ludai Ram had to struggle a lot, but he never deviated from
the path of truth,righteousness, honesty, self education and value of hard
work.He was the first Sanskrit teacher in Himendra’s life. From the Sanskrit
stories of Hitopadesh and Panchatantra, Ludai Ramtaught his students to set
themselves free from cravings, fears, anger and to imbibe the value of
unconditional love.
Gopinath Medhi was a disciplinarian, a firm proponent of logic and reasoning.
He was the first mathematics teacher in Himendra’s life. He turned the
understanding of mathematical formulae into a process of spiritual revelation.
Mr. Thakur fondly mentions the mathematics classes where his teacher would
indicate the relationship between God, Zero and Infinity.
Infinity is the crux of the drama NIRVANA. The Sky is endless and the Universe
is enormous. Earth is a dust particle.
Although it is an insignificant dust particle in this vast, enormous Universe,
the Earth is still unique, because it is the only home of Life.
Life is so rare, so adorable, so precious! Why should we ruin it with the blind
beliefs of race, religion, caste, property and bank-balance? Life gave us the
most precious gift:consciousness and logic --- that shows us the sky. The same
consciousness and the same logic make us feel the power of love. In his comment
on NIRVANA, Professor Makarand Paranjape wrote: “Sorrow is caused by false
identification with the limited. On the other hand, identifying with the sky,
which is suggestive of vastness, formlessness, and universality of the Divine
induces in us a love that transcends boundaries of me and mine or you and
yours.” We see it in Chandogya Upanishad: yadeva kham tadeva kam iti ---
whatever is sky, so is love … where all identities vanish.
I am deeply convinced, as I completed reading the plays of Mr. Himendra Thakur,
that in this world there are unique personalities with great vision and deep
insight who permanently leave behind a treasure house of rich thoughts and
messages of universal love and spiritual bonding. Their teachings are profound
and all encompassing.
Sent from Satyen's iPhone
Begin forwarded message:
From: "Barthakur, Himendra (DOT)" <[email protected]>
Date: 23 September 2014 2:44:38 GMT+05:30
To: Satyen <[email protected]>
Cc: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>, "Barthakur, Himendra (DOT)"
<[email protected]>
Subject: RE: "From Bindu to Nirvana"
Dear Satyen,
Thanks for your letter. My response is becoming shorter and getting delayed
due to pressure at work. I’ll be more than happy to study and write about the
philosophy of Namghoxa and Kirtanputhi --- although I am not qualified, I’ll
still try.
You are very lucky to have a Grandmother with such deep insight. This is
missing in people with high academic degrees. If we can find the reason, modern
education system can be improved.
Please feel free to upload Ankur’s article on “From Bindu to Nirvana” in your
Website.
I’ll write to you again later.
With warm greetings,
Himendra
From: Satyen [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, September 22, 2014 12:06 PM
To: Barthakur, Himendra (DOT)
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: Re: "From Bindu to Nirvana"
Respected Sir
This is an excellent article & need immediate attention of Assamese as a whole
as it bear much relevance towards present spiritual crosis faced our young gen
Sir, this article reminds me of my Grandmother's one simple saying "always look
at Sky whenever you feel angry,zealous & feel like to be mean towards others or
joyous, ecstatic -all should be taken in same spirit as we are nothing but
lesser than a Bindu."
She was a simple rural woman who perhaps never heard the word Physics left
this world in 1983 but she could spell out entire NAAMGHOXA & most of KIRTAN
PUTHI and might have made out her own understanding towards vastness.
May i upload it in a few assamese forum if you permit ?
Sir , why dont you start writing on philosophical value of NAAMGHOXA and how it
can be related to Nirvana & Bindu.Your deepest insight will help us to help
our next gen
Together we can
Thanks & regards
Satyen
Sent from Satyen's iPhone
On 22-Sep-2014, at 18:10, "Barthakur, Himendra (DOT)"
<[email protected]> wrote:
Dear Satyen,
Attached please find an article Ankur Bora wrote 8 years back. This article
starts with a concern about “terrorism” which you have mentioned in your
rejoinder. Please let me know your comments.
Do you think Ankur’s article “NIRVANA and BINDU” can be uploaded into the
Assamese Website?
With warm greetings,
Himendra
<NIRVANA and BINDU-10-08-09.doc>
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